The UAE, known as a shelter for the world’s wealthiest, will welcome 4,500 new millionaires this year, according to the Henley & Partners Private Wealth Migration Report 2023.
The UAE is placed second, behind Australia, in a global list of high-net-worth individuals published by the global wealth tracker and residency experts.
Henley & Partners reports that millionaire migration has increased steadily over the past ten years, with 122,000 and 128,000 millionaires expected to relocate globally in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Rich migration from the UAE
The CEO of Henley & Partners, Dr. Juerg Steffen, stated that “generally, wealth migration trends look set to revert to pre-pandemic patterns this year, with Australia reclaiming the top spot for net inflows as it did for five years prior to the Covid outbreak, and China seeing the biggest net outflows as it has every year for the past ten years.
The UK and the US, two erstwhile top wealth generators, stand out as prominent exceptions.
The study investigates the movement of HNWIs with investable wealth of $1 million or more both within and between countries, or “dollar millionaires.”
Only individuals who have moved permanently—those who spend more than six months a year in their new country—are included in the HNWI migration data.
Top 10 countries for millionaire migration
- Australia, 5,200
- UAE, 4,500
- Singapore, 3,200
- US, 2,100
- Switzerland, 1,800
- Canada, 1,600
- Greece, 1,200
- France, 1,000
- Portugal, 800
- New Zealand, 700
Others inevitably lose out while these nations are anticipated to see an inflow of millionaires moving in this year. The net millionaire losers are China, India, the UK, Russia, and Brazil.
The Islamic Development Bank Institute’s Director of Economic Research and Statistics, Dr. Areef Suleman, observes in the study that the multiplier effect of HNWI migration on destination nations is likely to have an influence that goes beyond the investment itself.
He said: “If the $1m coming from HNWIs are invested in a business, it could generate employment and additional demand from existing domestic producers, which multiplies its impact to an amount greater than the initial investment.
“Meanwhile, for source countries, the opportunity lost is mitigated by the flow of remittances and international connections in the form of trade, foreign direct investments, and technological transfers from destination countries.”
